Immersive cooperative card game journeys to PC and Mac for a narrative-driven experience

ROSEVILLE, Minnesota – JUNE. 21, 2018 – Asmodee Digital and Fantasy Flight Interactive today announced that The Lord of the Rings™: Living Card Game™ will be available in Early Access on Steam for PC and Mac on August 28, 2018. The Early Access release will be available initially as a single-player only experience but will add cooperative play in the coming months. Players can access the Early Access release by purchasing one of three Founder’s Packs, the Shire pack, priced at $7.99, the Steward of Gondor Pack, priced at $15.99, and the Istari Pack, priced at $29.99. Each of these Founder’s Packs come with a suite of cards, in-game currency, and custom cosmetic items that will start adventurers off on their quest through Middle-earth. Players can opt to buy all three Founder’s Packs in a bundle as the MITHRIL™ Founder’s Pack Bundle for $47.99.

Additionally, players may pre-order The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game in a Collector’s Edition that features a unique 2-player starter edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, a brass replica of The One Ring, individual art prints of four heroes from the game, and digital codes for the Mithril Founder’s Pack Bundle, custom cosmetic items and the Original Soundtrack as mp3 files available now.

The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game tasks players with leading a fellowship of three heroes through a series of narrative campaigns across Middle-earth as they face off against the dark forces of Sauron. Players will forge their own fellowships and build decks comprised of ally, event, and equipment cards to face challenges that test their spirit, lore, tactics, and leadership.

The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game is inspired by the best-selling The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, a Living Card Game® from Fantasy Flight Games. This digital adaptation is inspired by the original tabletop game, taking the best aspects of that experience and adapting them for the digital medium while adding all new features in a player-vs-AI experience built from the ground-up, featuring:

An intuitive user interface

Unique and fully detailed environments depicting the world of Middle-earth

Fully-narrated story interludes

Branching narrative paths based on player choices

Visual and audio effects tied to every hero, card, and action

A dynamic AI that adapts to player’s triumphs—and mistakes

The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game delivers an immersive narrative-driven experience that will connect players with Tolkien’s fiction like never before. Beyond Early Access, The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game will be expanded to support co-op play, allowing two players to bring their fellowships together and fight through quests side-by-side!

Deck Building
Each hero is assigned a Sphere of Influence, indicated by the color of the card.

Purple for Leadership

Green for Lore

Blue for Spirit

Red for Tactics

Grey for Neutral

Each sphere supports its own unique strategy and playstyle, giving each deck in The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game strategic depth that will keep players invested well beyond their first Quest through Middle-earth. With fellowships of three heroes, players can either diversify the Spheres within their decks for the widest possible array of cards or select two or three heroes from the same Sphere in order to access more powerful cards within each Sphere.

The Shop

Relying on a fixed distribution of cards to remove randomness, The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game uses a structured format for Hero packs so players know the stats and details of every card in a pack before a purchase is made. Each pack contains a Hero, a set of four cards that corresponds with that Hero’s theme, and a free Palantír View.

As players progress through the game, they will earn Valor points, which can be used to unlock individual cards or be spent on the Palantír, a device which guarantees them a new card, cosmetic rewards, or additional valor.

“We created a game inspired by the classic original tabletop card game and wanted to capture the unique spirit of that game while still being approachable to new players,” said Tim Gerritsen, Head of Fantasy Flight Interactive. “In going digital, we captured much of the excitement and tension of the original game while automating the bookkeeping. This allowed us to explore new avenues that are unique to the digital experience and create a whole new game set in the fantastic world of Middle-earth.”

About Fantasy Flight Interactive
Fantasy Flight Interactive is a digital game studio based out of Madison, Wisconsin and a subsidiary of Asmodee North America. Founded in 2017, the studio’s mission is to bring the Fantasy Flight experience to digital platforms, delivering on the innovative gameplay, immersive gaming experiences, industry-leading customer service and top-quality game components that define Fantasy Flight.

About Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games is a leading hobby game company based out of Roseville, Minnesota, publishing a massive array of board and card games, role playing games, miniatures games, digital games, and Living Card Games®. Established in 1995, Fantasy Flight Games has earned a reputation for innovative gameplay, immersive experiences, industry-leading customer service and top-quality game components. Many of its popular titles are based on renowned licenses like Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as proprietary licenses such as Legend of the Five Rings, Android, and Runebound. Fantasy Flight Games has published titles in over thirty languages and distributed to more than fifty territories.

About Asmodee Digital
Asmodee Digital, a fully owned subsidiary of the Asmodee Group, is an international publisher and distributor of digital board games with operations located in Europe, North America, and China. Asmodee Digital manages the creation, design, development, publishing, and marketing of board and card games on leading digital platforms for Asmodee studios as well as for third-party publishers. The current Asmodee Digital catalog includes best-selling digital games such as Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Pandemic, Small World 2, Mr. Jack London, Lexigo Rush, Story Cubes, Colt Express, Mysterium, Potion Explosion, Onirim, Jaipur, Spot It! Duel, Harald, Smash Up, Carcassonne and digital versions of many other well-known board games. Learn more at www.asmodee-digital.com.

About Middle-earth Enterprises
Inspired by a deep appreciation for the fictional world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth Enterprises is dedicated to working with businesses providing quality products in accordance with best green business and sustainability practices, including fair trade, equality in the workplace, and a commitment to protect our earth, its wondrous beauty and the viability of every living creature.

The Saul Zaentz Company dba Middle-earth Enterprises, has been producing and licensing films, merchandise and stage productions based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for more than 40 years. With headquarters located in Berkeley, California, its website may be found at www.middleearth.com.